S&P 500 opens lower as trade war jitters linger

The S&P 500 opened lower on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, with the index down amid continued investor caution around tariffs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, was slightly higher, opening just over 100 points up amid a raft of earnings reports. Meanwhile, the market’s mixed outlook saw the Nasdaq open lower. At the open, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down 0.22% and 0.42%, respectively.

Although stocks opened mixed, investor sentiment was slightly buoyed by earnings reports and fresh tariffs related news. Specifically on the trade war front, market optimism hinged on reports President Donald Trump’s administration had plans to ease up automaker related tariffs. 

While these developments suggest a potential dialing down of trade tensions, the U.S.-China situation remains a key concern for investors. Analysts note that the market needs clear communication and signals on trade negotiations; otherwise, jitters will persist and continue to weigh on sentiment.

The news on auto tariffs came as U.S. carmaker General Motors posted positive earnings. Also reporting were soft drink giant Coca-Cola and pharmaceutical behemoth Pfizer, among several Wall Street giants releasing highly anticipated first-quarter earnings results.

Tuesday saw General Motors (GM), Spotify (SPOT), and Coca-Cola (KO) release their Q1 earnings reports. GM’s results before the bell showed a Q1 earnings beat, although the automaker delayed its 2025 guidance to Thursday.

Meanwhile, Pfizer (PFE) also reported a Q1 profit beat, although its revenue narrowly missed expectations at $13.7 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of $14 billion.

In notable stock mover highlights, shares of Amazon (AMZN) dipped after market reaction to comments from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. She stated that if reports suggesting the e-commerce giant plans to list tariff costs on goods are accurate, the move would be considered “hostile and political.”

Elsewhere in the market, gold slipped 0.65% to $3,226, while Bitcoin (BTC) traded around $94,800. The digital asset was up 0.5% in the past 24 hours.